A system for use during a medical or surgical procedure on a body. The
system generates a display representing the position of two or more body
elements during the procedure based on an image data set generated by a
scanner prior to the procedure. The image data set has reference points
for each of the body elements, the reference points of a particular body
element having a fixed spatial relation to the particular body element.
The system includes an apparatus for identifying, during the procedure,
the relative position of each of the reference points of each of the body
elements to be displayed. The system also includes a processor for
modifying the image data set according to the identified relative position
of each of the reference points during the procedure, as identified by the
identifying apparatus, said processor generating a displaced image data
set representing the position of the body elements during the procedure.
The system also includes a display utilizing the displaced image data set
generated by the processor, illustrating the relative position of the body
elements during the procedure. Methods relating to the system are also
disclosed.